Widening participation aims and outcomes: Examining higher education prospects for four non-traditional students

This paper provides an overview of New Labour's policy initiative to widen participation, and considers the consequences this policy has had for four non-traditional students, that is, 'students from under-represented groups' (Medway et al., 2003:3). As a result of widening participation policy, a broader range of higher education institutions (HEIs) have actively sought to enrol larger numbers of those they have historically tended to exclude: the working classes, women, mature students, those from minority ethnic groups and those with disabilities (Burns, Sinfield and Holley, 2006). The shift in emphasis away from Access programmes as a route into higher education for those traditionally excluded to the New Labour government push for widening participation across the sector has reshaped higher education, raising questions about what and who higher education is for.